Alone

H is playing in a mid-season soccer league. This is a traveling league. At this very moment, J and the two boys (B decided to go 'cuz he heard it was fun - and was willing to get up at 5AM on a Saturday to accompany his brother and dad) are on their way to a small town about 2 hours from here. They will return after H plays two games - they'll be back around 2PM.

I find myself w/ most of a Saturday alone. Typically, this would result in me beaming from ear to ear. Today, it just feels lonely. AND, they're all going snowboarding tomorrow so I'll have more of the same. Glad it's a 3 day weekend and J promises they'll be home on Monday - when they will all inevitably make me crazy and I'll wonder why I didn't enjoy the quiet of the 2 previous days.

So it's me, the dog and the cats today. The dog is attempting to make friends with the cats and it's actually going well. It's only taken 3 years of having a dog in the house for the cats to even consider being in the same room with another 4-legged species. Now, they will remain in the same room together and interact a bit, until Dani (the dog - miniature dachshund) gets too friendly and does something that gets her bonked on the nose. (Cats are declawed, thankfully - and yes, we did try everything possible to avoid having to declaw them - but our brand new house's oak stair banisters were being thrashed and that was the final straw). So Dani and the cats have this little routine now. Dani 'dances' (weaves and moves forward and back ever so slightly) while Klink (the dominant brother of the pair of cats) sits regally watching. Then, they get nose to nose and Klink eventually decides 'enough' and then 'bonk' - Dani's back sitting on her haunches looking somewhat shocked. Shocked only - never deterred. She's back at her attempts at making friends sooner than you can blink. Snow (less dominant, shy, sweet brother of monster cat Klink) stays back watching. Thankful, probably for the first time in his life, that his brother Klink is a good protector. Every once in awhile, I'll hear the 'clomp clomp clomp' of a bunch of four-legged creatures running up the stairs, into every room upstairs. That's a signal that the cat's have REALLY had enough now and it's time for me to go get Dani and attempt to get her to stay downstairs for awhile and give the felines a break.

It's a(nother) gloomy day in the valley. Overcast, cold and dreary. Matches my mood. Hmmmm....maybe I need to go sit under the 'like sunlight' lamp I have for the bird to get some 'sun' and read a book. I think I'll give that a try.